1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to the design of metal bond pads. The present invention is further related to probing small metal bond pads.
2. Background Art
A probe is know in the art as the instrument that essentially performs the function of extracting minimal energy from the circuit under test and transferring it to a measuring instrument with maximum fidelity. Some types of probes include the following: general Purpose Passive Voltage Probes, Active Voltage Probes, SDM Passive Voltage Probes, Active and Passive Current Probes, etc. All the above mentioned probes are used in direct contact with the tested circuit and collect data through a direct electrical connection with the metal components of the tested circuit. One of the most important problems that arise when using the traditional contact probing technology is that it requires large contact pads that are incompatible with the operation and economic constraints of modem integrated circuits design.
What are needed are techniques, design solutions, and methods for improving the probing ability of small pads when contact probing techniques are used.